Wimbledon: Petra ‘Erratica’

This is the future of tennis. And it has 40 Winners (to Vikas 9) and 9 aces (to Vikas 1), etched into it. Love it, or make your peace with it – but find better things to talk about than grunting or yelping or screeching.

Much as I abhor the expression, this match was always going to be won (or lost) on Petras racquet.

The first set took all of 27 minutes – pretty long when you consider Vika was only able to salvage one game out of it.

Petra served it out with three aces: on her racquet, with her racquet, all about her racquet.

And then came an erratic stretch of play which, in my mind, will, ultimately, decide the winner in Saturday’s final – and, indeed, determine how many titles she notches up in the future.

You see, as wonderful as it is that Petra is able to decontextualise herself from a poor spell of play (she hardly ever berates herself), or any single UFE, it also means she takes little or no corrective action. Most of the time it doesn’t seem like she’s alert to anything awry at all.

Her most telling look came at 3-5 down with Vika serving for the 2nd set. The bemused disappointment was simply priceless: it only just seemed to have dawned on her that shunting every ball into the stands wasn’t such a fine idea, or that her little foray into ‘Erratica’ may have cost her the set – perhaps even the match [Ya big talented Silly]

Pova’s no Vika – she hits the ball as hard as anyone out there, and is second to none in gutsing out tight matches when she’s not playing her best. Which she quite clearly isn’t. And that concern over Pova’s form, together with how much erratica Petra brings to bear, is what will probably end up deciding this match.

Berd said Petra could go all the way. He's right. And I think she probably will.

Unforgivably subjective, but if we go on expressions alone, I don’t think there was anyone in the semis that wanted it more. No one, but no one, wears the face of anguish and desire the way she does.

I don’t wanna have to resign myself to seeing Vika go out in a spate of semis now that she's got the ‘quarterenka’ monkey off her back. Ergo, I still believe. :(

Maria Sharapova is back in her first Slam final since 2008.  But if she serves the way she did today, she might lose the entire match quicker than Vika lost the first set. Petra’s my first choice – there’s simply too much dorkish promise –  but I won’t be unhappy if this woman pulls it off.

Only an obnoxious neanderthal will be insensitive to Sabine’s troubles, or ambivalent to her triumphing over them. So I’m gonna to the kind thing and just put the match behind us.

Nothing is to be gained by revisiting the carnage, except to say that Pova really wasn’t playing well enough to win it against better competition, in which I include the Sabine from the early rounds – she didn’t show up.

Of course, if I wanted to be spiteful I could bring up Marion, whom you deprived of a SF spot and who I’m convinced would have given a better account of herself….*continues bitching as editing team effect a fade out*

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Wimbledon: The stuff Slams are made of.

Lisicki d. Bartoli 6-4 6-7 6-1

You just can’t play two 3 setters in week one (one of which goes 9-7 in the third), follow that up with an emotionally-consuming win over one of the greatest players of all time, and then expect to be at your optimal level only 24 hours later.

That’s a big ask for anyone, let alone Marion.

Having played that much, I don’t think I’m reaching when I say that she could have done with the extra days rest – or that it could have been a very different result had she had that rest.

Coulda-shoulda-woulda….this is the stuff Slams are made of.  You might even argue the mental cost associated with pulling off a win over Serena sapped her of more vitality than any number of 3 setters would.

My guess is she knew that only too well – happy, presumably, with beating Serena to stand as her crowning achievement at this event: not only did she not fail to compete, she actually dialled up the fire further still. Until, that is, her legs would carry her no more.

That takes “More balls than all the French men put together”, as someone said on twitter yesterday.

 

And for that, as always, she has my respect.




I don’t know if I quite buy into Sabine as the “deserving cause”, and I’m still not completely reconciled to her having knocked out my fave (*snarl*), but you have no soul if you’re not pleased at her return.

Can she keep it going? Probably. Will it be enough against Pova? I rather doubt it. Certainly not if Pova plays the way she did vs. Domi.

Perhaps sensing the electricity that Domi sometimes brings to bear (see Wozniacki), Pova squashed any pretensions to “competition” Domi might have had within the opening few games. Alas poor munchkin, she never had a chance.




Petra played her worst match of the tournament today. There’s a cost/benefit analysis you might choose to make whenever something like this happens.

On the one hand, she got through and will likely emerge more battle-hardened as a result, which should set her in good stead for the semis.

Trouble is, Petra’s never really fit that mould. She seems to thrive on quick wins based on strutting her very capable stuff. Today’s troublesome encounter is neither “empowering”, nor should it be seen as very much more than a minor irritant. She may very well go down to Vika, or (as I rather suspect) she may knock her out – either way today’s episode will have had little to do with it.

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Madrid: Old Flames and ‘Churchillean’ Tennis.

The victory pose is, at least, novel. The result, anything but.

Nadal d. Federer 6-4 7-6

There is some tennis being played this week. Just don’t expect me to go acknowledging it’s existence.

For the next four or five days, I’m afraid, Tennis is not being served in these’ere parts. I might cobble together a RG preview. Then again I might elect not to step out of my hastily constructed tennis decompression unit until the first ball has been struck in Phillipe Chatrier.

To tell you the truth, I didn’t know what to expect going into the first “Naderer” final in twelve months, and even now, nearly two days after it’s completion, I’m still not sure what to make of it.

The only certainties were that:

a) Nadal ought to come through (though perhaps being stretched to three sets), and that,

b) I didn’t want to hear any pissant excuses about Madrid’s “high altitude” from Rafaelites, or “insufficient clay court matches” from the Federnation in the event of either man pulling up short.

Before I get accused of sitting on the fence (as I have once already in the past 72 hrs), let me declare where my loyalties lie. Sitting on a fence, as you might imagine, is an uncomfortable business.

I don’t go in much for the argument that says order is somehow served by Rafa winning RG and Federer retaining Wimby ever year – to me the odd chaotic interlude is the healthiest sign yet of a vibrant and, more importantly, COMPETITIVE tennis economy.

No I’m afraid my reasons for backing Rafa to win RG this year have much more in common with fluffy white kittens and children’s television.

To put it bluntly, he needs this win the way Federer needed Wimby last year.

We’ve all been acutely aware of his return to form (even though we might differ on the exact minutiae of when it took place), but that return would fall palpably short of “coming full circle” if Rafa went out early to say, ‘Dasco Sizzlehands’.

Consider that my line in the dirt - “on this subject I have nothing more to say, no other apology to offer.”

***

It’s no secret that in the immediate aftermath of Sunday's final, I was feeling slightly short changed.

The entire match had the air of two old flames meeting up for drinks and salted snacks – a tete-a-tete neither had sought – before deciding they still couldn’t stand one other.

The first set was full of the unease and neurotic defensiveness that must necessarily surround the first few moments of any such meeting.

“You still take yours strong I see…”

“Still taking coffee with your sugar, I see…”

*awkward silence*

Rafa was a little late out of the blocks, but Federer’s grip on an early break proved as tenuous as everything else. When Rafa broke decisively at 4-3 he appeared to have defaulted into a groove that still fell painfully short of the form we’d come to associate with him over the past month.

“Still pitching those, curve balls to my backhand then?”

“Made our peace with the drop shot finally have we?”

*frenzied stirring of coffee*

Federer’s backhand was, of course, Rafa’s front line of attack (no surprises there) – the usual frenetic assault, which I thought it withstood well given the circumstances. Most of what I saw from Fed in this match, in fact, though perhaps not as convincing as his containment of Ernie, or disembowelling of Stan Wawrinka, does at least appear to suggest a certain contentment with the tenor of his game ahead of RG.

It was with some irony then, that I viewed Rafa seal the first set off one of Federer’s finest backhand returns of the match. A deep angled cross court that forced Rafa on his back foot, scrambling to regain his balance. Quite what possessed Fed to then bull rush the net – having already been passed there a number of times – remains mostly a mystery.

We were, by this point, past the initial awkward exchanges, and well beyond the demands of social decorum. Suddenly, all the usual grievances about un-emptied garbage and hair blockages in the the sink became that much easier to air – every tic, every foible, once so endearing, now very publicly subject to the most unforgiving scrutiny.

“Never liked those slurping sounds you make when you drink….”

*shank*

“Wasn’t crazy about the way you’d always end up laughing at your own jokes which, by the way, weren’t even that funny.”

*unconverted break point*

What made it compelling, however, was that it wasn’t a wholly sordid business. More a kind of impasse between two former allies, each unwilling to yield even an inch of their hard earnt moral high ground, though neither that intent on turning the screw on their old buddy either.

When Federer finally shanked a ball sky high clean-missed on match point – off a bad bounce I hasten to add – it seemed as though the issue had been forced.

Yet the point-by-point intensity of the affair left me feeling I’d sat through four competitive sets rather than two erratic ones.

Fed served nine aces and no double faults. Both served a very healthy 67+ percent of first serves in.

Both also served up around 30 UFEs a piece and neither was able to convert on more than 4 out of the staggering 11 break point opportunities they were each presented with.

Unflattering perhaps, but hardly worthy of the scandal that comes of airing one’s dirty linen in public.

***

Stuff-you-should-already-be-aware-of-that-I-only-mention-for-the-sake-of-completeness:

-- Nadal back to world #2

-- First male in history to win all three Clay Masters Titles in the same year (what took you so long?),

-- Holder of most overall Masters Titles (‘18’ emblazoned boxers Nike?), and the unquestioned favourite for RG.

“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,…”

-- Winston Churchill, WWII

Henin, MJMS, Rezai: three different styles of play,three unseeded champions for three Premier events. No words.

To say Aravane Rezai is one-dimensional is to rather miss the point of her appeal.

She belongs to the same tennis tradition as Sabine Lisicki – who you’ll remember, picked up Charleston last year playing a similarly Churchillean style of tennis.

Rezai herself has now been compared to Monica Seles more often than I care to remember.

The trouble with players like Rezai is that there always exists the possibility of them getting bipolar on you: don’t miss and the world’s your oyster, though if your groundies begin to go south, they almost always take the match with them.

For a brief spell, it seemed as though the same was about to happen to Rezai in the second set. It didn’t. I’d like to believe this wasn’t simply a result of being in the zone, though as with everything else, only time will tell.

What I’m not about to do is grumble that she’s got no plan B to fall back on. Aravane, Big Rob and to a lesser extent Sabine, belong to a different order of species: it’s about as appropriate to juxtapose their supposed “limitations” alongside the variety of Henin as it is to compare a Chimpanzee with a Blue Whale.

It’s not often you get to see Venus (and I’m guessing Henin) out hit.

(Photos: Getty)

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The Chemical Properties of Steel and other Conspiracy Theories

Yes I know she lost.

Vika lost and Maria won. In what sounds like a riveting three sets of tennis.

Yet all I can discern of the matter is that Maria 'enjoyed herself', Vika made her hit a 'ton of balls', Maria's mum in Russia probably heard the cries of a baby that interrupted play during the first set, and that Vika was 'not happy' with her inability to execute.

All a little 'manufactured'. More on that later.

(Photo: AP)

I'm guessing that Maria's will played an all-important role in a match that saw her fire a dozen double-faults; and that, with it being Vika's first match back since Wimbledon, her intensity may have served that self-destructive role it sometimes does when she's not able to execute.

What that says to me is that -- surprise, surprise -- Maria continues to trump most bright young things, in a battle of steel. Those that are familiar with steel that is; and it's constituent elements within the periodic table. There's plenty that haven't the faintest idea what steel is, and conduct themselves on court with all the reactivity and bravado of an inert gas.

Except I refuse to accept it even happened.

I find it both galling and suspicious that during arguably one of the best post Wimbledon encounters we've had, not a single live feed was available anywhere, and nor, from what I've now gathered from two separate sources, was it broadcast on TV.

Why the cloak and dagger secrecy?

As you've probably gathered from my previous rants, UK broadcasters tend to categorise the early parts of the US Open Series within the same file as 'The Loch Ness Monster'. Nobody's ever seen it, yet no one's prepared to either confirm or deny it's existence.

A bit like what I think's happening over in LA.

And the fact that it wasn't broadcast in the States either, simply smacks of a cover-up.

Did the match take place anywhere near 'Area 51'?

Yes it did. Three hundred or so miles south of it, in fact.

Does anyone else find the close proximity of the two venues a little strange?

Did you know that a vast underground transcontinental railroad system is rumoured to exist in that region? Along with reports of a disappearing airstrip, and engineering based on alien technology.

Did we have an alien streaker named J-Rod race on to court, having made it's way through that vast, undocumented subterranean system?

Is the similarity with 'A-Rod' a coincidence? And what sort of service speeds is J-Rod capable of?

Has everybody that happened to be in live attendance, had their recollection of the event DVR'd out of their heads?

Here's what I think really happened.

J-Rod is an alien entity brought in as an aide to secretive governmental research into super sonic service speeds.

In an, as of yet unaccountable lapse in security, J-Rod somehow made it's way from Area 51, on to court and cracked a serve that broke the sound barrier. What Maria's mother heard in Russia wasn't the sound of a baby crying at all, but of the resultant sonic boom, that had made it's way right through the earths core.

J-Rod was quickly carted back to area 51 in a super-slick men-in-black style operation.

Everyone present on court had sounds and images of a baby crying, and it's mother taking it off court, supplanted into their memories.

Spurious news feeds were also released to the media within minutes of the incident occurring.

***

The rather more terrestrial A-Rod was back in action at Washington this week, and dispatched Benjamin Becker 6-2, 6-3, proclaiming afterwards that his serve was the one rusty element of his game "that he didn't worry about it coming around".

I've no idea what that means, but someone whose tennis I do worry about coming around is Jo-Willy, who went out in three to John Isner. I remain largely unimpressed with French tennis. The fact that the authorities won't let things rest with Gasquet, may mean this trend is set to continue.

Dinara put out Hantuchova in straights, saying afterwards:

"I didn’t do anything spectacular. We play the same way, so it depends on who’s going to take charge of the points"

I winced instinctively when I read this. You could probably describe just about any WTA match you see these days with that caption. It does little to dispel the image of of a WTA tree of life withering away through lack of diversity.

I'd hazard a guess the same description applied to the way in which Sorana Cirstea upended Caroline Wozniacki in three sets. Caroline won a grass court title this year, but for the most part seems unable to change the trend that's seen her make finals she doesn't win. My theory is she's reached the limits of her well-rounded, non-threatening game, and needs to step out of her comfort zone.

Someone that has been able to put right a failing trend is Sabine Lisicki, who won what seems like her first three set match in months yesterday, putting out the 38 year-old Kimiko Date Krumm, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-5

(Quotes: tennis.com)
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"The Unbeatable Serena..."

There really isn't a lot to be said on today's ladies quarter finals.

Venus versus A-Rad was as one sided as I expected it to be.

However I expected Schiavone to put up more resistance against Dementieva, but Francesca by her own admission got a little overwhelmed by the whole Centre Court experience, not to mention the magnitude of the occasion.

Safina v Lisicki was a letdown. Dinara played poorly, much like she's been doing all event. And Lisicki, despite the good start was undone by a calf injury. Three pretty boring sets of tennis.

What I will say though is it's good to see Dinara getting through these matches on the back of little more than willpower. By her own admission, she's no grassie, and though I don't think she stands a chance opposite Venus, it's worth noting she's managed to remain competitive on her least effective surface, a feat Marat only achieved in two out of ten attempts:

Q. It took Marat maybe a career to sort of become comfortable and like grass. Can you maybe say you've condensed that learning curve into one tournament?

DINARA SAFINA: Well, he did it by the age of 28, and I do it by the age of 23. So I do it earlier.

Actually, I think, yeah, I can play on grass. Because before it was fighting on grass, but now actually I don't even fight anymore against the grass. I'm enjoying it.

(Source: wimbledon.org)

Except "fighting on grass" - with grass, is what I think Dinara's been doing all tournament. But hey, I'm ok with it if it wins her matches.

And then there was Serena versus Azarenka.

(Photo: GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Serena is looking better than Venus this year.

All her previous matches were impressive. But she was in especially imperious form today, from the get-go. I've a feeling she knew that Azarenka's not the player to play with your "feel your way through and see how it goes" game face on.

The scoreline suggests a one-sided match. And it was. But not because Azarenka's a poor player, or because she played a poor match. She rarely does. She was just outplayed. And she knew it.

She didn't even spend quite the time she usually does doing this.

(Photo: GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Image)

OK, there was some of this.

(Photo: GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)

But she also showed real civility by walking off court with Serena (a tradition so widely observed this year, I believe the authorities must have specially requested the players to revive it) chatting and smiling, and her very respectful, "tell it like it is" presser. This quote in particular sums things up very nicely:

"She really showed the unbeatable Serena today, I guess."

A volatile firebrand with an unexpectedly humble side?

No. A volatile firebrand that's smart enough to not let personalities get in the way of telling it like it is. I like her more already.

It's not that there's anything especially deferential there. But she could have so easily done the cursory-credit thing.

Virgina Wade is a big Azarenka fan.

I'm going to try and quote her the best I can, from what I remember today.

"...it [Azarenka's determined attitude] can lose it's charm when she loses control like she did yesterday [when she all but threatened a lines person], but you have to have that level of belief and determination if you think you're good enough to beat the top players and go on to win Slams...".

Or something. You get the idea.

Oh and think again if you think Serena is any closer to burying the Indian Wells hatchet.

Q. Okay. But when the time comes to sit down and look at your marvels, what do you think the first marvel will be?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Uhm, I don't know. I have no idea. I'll just ‑‑ I don't know. I think I'll be a little amazed because, uhm, you know, I never even take the time out to even think about the tournament.

I mean, I use some of my trophies for makeup brushes, so, you know, maybe I'll just take a step back and be like, Hmm. Take all the makeup brushes out and really appreciate every title and every trophy.

Q. What trophy makes the best makeup brush holder?

SERENA WILLIAMS: My Indian Wells '03 (smiling). Or was it '01? Whatever year that was.

(Source: wimbledon.org)

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And Then There Were 16...

I know we very seldom have intermissions in cinemas these days, but now'd be the time to venture out, stretch those legs, replenish your supply of glazed, sickly-sweet popcorn and refill that oversized coke cup.

Once again, middle Sunday seems to have crept up on us too soon. Going through the Wimbledon draws today, I couldn't help being a little struck by there being only four boxes of matches remaining on either side. Sure, it's four boxes of two singles matches each. That's why it's called the round of sixteen, silly.

But that's 2⁷ - 2⁴ = 112 players back home already. Or else playing the challenger event in Turin this week. To say nothing of all the players sent packing in qualies, before the event even began.

There's something very clinical and chilling about that culling - a death by binary placeholders that's not out of place at any Slam, but sits particularly well against the pomp and exclusivity of Wimbledon.

And now I want to take a moment to do this.

(Photo: CHRIS RATCLIFFE/AFP/Getty Images)

Yeah.

That's Juan-Carlos after his five set win over Gonzo, sort of of how I looked when Tommy came through against Marin yesterday, but it may as well represent my reaction to seeing Juan-Carlos, Lleyton and of course Tommy in particular, come through the first week.

I won't deny that many trays were overturned when he almost didn't hold serve after breaking Marins.

To think it almost turned out like this.


I reserve the right to wheel her out when Tommy does eventually go out. And on any subsequent upset that hurts a lot.

I may as well have put up a picture of Jelena Jankovic.

She's not in a happy place. Hasn't been for sometime now.

Muscle troubles, woman troubles, blurry vision.

A lot has been made of her comments on her 17 year old American opponent Melanie Oudin.

"...she can play if you let her play. But she cannot hurt you with anything. She doesn't have any weapons, you know, from what I've seen.

You know, I played with half pace. I served, you know, like almost my first serve was like a second serve and all those kind of things. But if I had a little bit more ‑‑ if I felt a little bit more fresh at the end of that second set, I could have won in two sets.

...

"She's a consistent and quite solid player. She doesn't make so many mistakes. But she doesn't do anything either, so it's like she's depending kind of on you. And, as well, it's another story when she's young and she has nothing to lose, no pressure. You know, even when it's an important moment, she can just go for it.

And nobody's expecting her to win, so it's just a bonus if she does well. But if she loses, you know, nobody will tell her anything.

So it's a different, you know, situation for those kind of players. And then for players like me, which you're expected to win, you have pressure on yourself, you have expectations, as well. She just goes out there to enjoy it and give her best.

(Source: wimbledon.org)

All very unsporting of course, but also a little reminiscent of Federers 'observations' on Murray's game at Dubai last year. Comments I wholeheartedly agreed with, incidentally.

As much as I might have to say on her problematic attitude, problems that largely predate this incident anyway, it's very rare to find a top tier player giving anything more than superficial credit, when they come unstuck against what they perceive as a young pretender.

And as well-executed as Oudin's game plan was, it's really isn't that distinct from anything else you might find in the top 100. Where I think Jelena might have been a little more selective in her choice of words, is in her contention that Melanie "doesn't have any weapons". This is after all the very same accusation that has been levelled against Jelena for a number of years now.

I've heard her described as "the best defender in the game", "one of the best movers in the game" - I've even gone on record as saying I rate her mentally ahead of her nearest rivals (outside of the Williamses of course).

But she's far too reluctant to pull the trigger, and the closest thing to a big weapon Jelena has, is that double handed backhand down the line. Which really is a marquee shot, but like the rest of her game lacks the firepower she so desperately needs. And as far as I can see, she's been having trouble pulling that one out of the hat too recently.

So 'bad show' Jelena; Melanie may not have a stockpile of A-Bombs. But then again, neither do you. Consider yourselves both exempt from the non-proliferation treaty.

Also not a presser that befits a player "that's expected to win". For that you might go back to 2001 and hear what Sampras had to say on Federer.

"There are a lot of young guys coming up but Roger is a bit extra-special. He has a great all-round game, like me doesn't get too emotional and you have to give him a great deal of credit.
...

"Against Roger I had my chances but did not convert them whereas he played really well at the right time which is the key on grass."

(Source: BBC)

And as far as Melanie goes, I really rather like her. It's refreshing to see, what initially seems a nonthreatening and rather giggly high-schooler, put on a game face like this.

(Photo: Getty)

Great too, to have an American besides the Williamses in the second week.

Someone who is rather more willing to pull the trigger is Sabine Lisicki. She won in Charleston earlier this year, beating Wozniacki and Venus Williams in the process.

You've already heard me scream about her ability to fire 120mph+ first serves down the T. But coming into this I had her down as a kind of Ernests Gulbis of the WTA. In the messed up trigger happy bad way.

But though she still has a very underdeveloped game, she displayed a remarkable degree of maturity in her shot selection during her straight sets win over Kuznetsova. I really liked the drop shots but also the way she preferred the reduced-pace short angled cross court over simply blasting it into any empty part of the court.

Kuznetsova sucked. And I say that as a long serving member of her fan club that feels let down. Put simply, her win in Paris should have marked a new phase in her growth as a confident member of the upper echelons. With that in mind I was "willing to see her, wanting to see her, waiting to see her" make an impression here - an event where she's thrice made the quarters. No excuses about the grass please. Not from someone as proficient as her.

I wouldn't have minded the odd wobble, but expected to see a more assured Svetlana, at one with both herself and her tennis. What I got was "Sorta-lana", struggling to keep the ball in court, executing one of those non-plans she has, and seemingly aloof and detached from her new found WTA standing.

I've been willing myself not to say this, but she's giving me those distinctive, underachieving, Safin-like vibes. And I don't like it.

The Best of the Rest...

Murray v Wawrinka: Murray was scary good opposite Troicki. Be interesting to see how he fares opposite Stanislas now that he's so very clearly in his element.

A-Rod v Berdych: Andy's dropped a set in each and every match he's played. Still my pick to make the finals in an unapologetic "heart over head" kinda way. Little scared by the progress Berdych has made, which is a bit strange considering I initially picked him as a dark horse. Banking on his remarkable ability to punk out on matches now that he's facing the A-Rod.

Simon v Ferrero: Now this I'll admit has taken me by surprise. It's not that Gilles is a poor player, but he's definitely not the top ten player I'd bank on to avoid the culling of the first week that del Potro, Tsonga and Gonzo have all fallen prey to. Also not the player I thought would produce the shot of the tournament so far. Apologies in advance of the grainy images of someones telly.



Liking that Ferrero's made it this far, and though I think he has a chance against Simon, the round that follows this will probably be his last.

Haas v Andreev: I'm backing Haas. But you already knew that.

Dudi Sela: ????? I'm sure Dudi's a great player, but I'm guessing Schuettler and Tommy Robredo aren't the biggest scalps on grass and would be very surprised to see him get a single set off Novak.

Novak Djokovic: Looked as clinical as he was early on last year, against Fish in the last round. Clearly finding his game as the tournament progresses. I'm one of those who's not reading much more than "too much tennis" into the loss to Haas at Halle.

Nando v Karlovic: Be cheering on my dark horse Nando. He may have to contend 55 or more aces fired by the man that turned "six foot ten" into a brand name.

Fed v Sod: Fed in straights. Intriguing match up. As will be every match Soderling plays against top ten players in the coming months

Dinara v Mauresmo: Dinara hates grass. Rather like her brother may still do. Amelie's a former champ here and is probably one of the few true grass court players left in the womens game. Guess who I think's gonna come through?

Wozniacki v Lisicki: Match up of the draw. Be following this one intently. Here's the thing about Woz. Plays opposite pace superbly well. Not so great at generating her own. Lisicki's all about pace, though like I said above, she's mature enough to know when to stop.

Venus v Ivanovic: I love the fact that Ana has found the closest she might get to something resembling form in this event. Since her expulsion from the top ten, she's been off limits in any WTA tirade I might care to launch. You just don't do that to people. But she's not going to defeat Venus Williams at in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. No she's not.

Though it was interesting to learn she'd been viewing Roger Federer videos to improve her game on grass.

“She is a very dangerous opponent but I think I have a great chance,” said Ivanovic. “I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to play against her because in my first match I was half gone. But I have been playing better and better and that’s what you want to feel going into the second week of a Grand Slam.”

Ivanovic revealed she had gone to look and learn from five-times Wimbledon champion Roger Federer. “I think I can learn a lot from him, just from the way he plays on grass,” she continued.

“I think grass is such a specific surface and you really have to understand it to play well on it.”

(Source: The Times)

Very heartening sounds emerging from Camp Ana. All of them.

Radwanska v Oudin: Oudin's had a great run here, but I'm really happy that Agnieszka has made it this far. She's not Hingis. She's Agnieszka. Not everyone that doesn't play Big-Babe tennis can or should be likened to Martina. And I happen to think Agnieszka can play rather well. I think I prefer the way she conducts herself on court too. Yeah I'm not a Martina fan. Does that come across?

Razzanno v Schiavone: I like Virginie, but I happen to like Francesca a lot more. In fact unpretentious Italian female tennis players feature rather highly on my list of favourite things in tennis. So there.

Vesnina v Dementieva: Dementieva has been scorching her way through the draw: I wouldn't know anything about it, seeing as I've yet to catch a single match. She should make the semis.

Azarenka v Petrova: I happen to really like Nadia too. I love that she's recovered her top ten position. Heck let me just say this once and for all so it's clear. Show me an unpretentious athlete male or female and chances are I'll like them. But Azarenka wins in straights. Azarenka always wins in straights, unless she's forced to fume her way through three.

Hantuchova v Serena: Same story again. I love that Daniella has managed to recover her form of three or so years ago. But dare I say it - yes I do - Serena's looking better than Venus this year. Yeah I'm not about to bet against Serena again. Ever.

I leave you with my pic of the week. Well it was lying around on my drive and I didn't know what to do with it. I'm still not sure what to make of it, except to say that roundhousing a linesperson's probably the way Eric Cantona might resolve a sporting dispute.

(Photo: AP)

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Early Impressions: Maria Sharapova

It's been fascinating seeing Sharapova back in action this week.

To be honest I wasn't expecting too much when I heard of her decision to enter Warsaw, a tournament I only remember from last year because of the way Nikolay used it to get out of playing grass court tennis.

I wasn't too thrilled by the idea of staging a comeback from injury on as injurious a surface as clay, but it was in some sense understandable by the way in which it was fulfilling a need to get some matches in ahead of Roland Garros.

Seems I needn't have worried. I didn't see all of her opening match against the Italian Tathiana Garbin; the portions I did catch looked painfully one-sided, and even though I subsequently heard it took her three sets to close out the victory, I wasn't that concerned - one look at those groundstrokes caused most of my reservations to dissipate. But let me tackle this in some sort of order.

The service actions changed (again). Gone is the old swirly take back, and in it's place a considerably more abbreviated Henin-like motion. Obviously intended to reduce strain on the bandaged shoulder. The significant reduction in pace was a little concerning - in her first match she looked to be serving at little more than around 65%.

Again, I needn't have worried. If today's performance (a straight sets dismissal of Belarusian Darya Kustova, with a bagel to boot) is anything to go by it seems she's taking an incremental match-by-match approach to feeling her way back into her game. What else did I expect?

There was also a noticeable reluctance to taking on any overheads that came her way - uneasy feel on those she did manage to put away.

But those groundstrokes are as potent as they ever where. Or were they? I'd argue more so. It may be that my memory has been affected by the length of time she's spent away from the game, it may be that they look more scary juxtaposed as they are alongside that less intimidating serve, but there seems to be more energy being put into every shot, more noise emitted when racquet meets ball. Whatever it is it's flattening the rest of the competition which is admittedly very tier-3.

And therein lies the only dampener in this whole affair. She had been due to take on Wozniacki in the 2nd round before she pulled out with a back injury, as did Sabine Lisicki and #1 seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

On the basis of the form she showed in her opening match, I didn't think Maria would be out of place in the top twenty - even with that serve. But what would have been a better way to get an insight into where her game really is than a matchup with as compelling a top tenner as Wozniacki?

(Photo: AP via Yahoo! Sports)
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I Almost Forgot...

I've been a little neglectful in my coverage of the WTA recently, choosing to follow some very good advice I once heard along the lines of "If you haven't anything good to say, remain silent...". But there's been a number of positive developments on the women's tour recently that I thought I should mention:

-- Sabine Lisicki, a breath of fresh air from Germany. She won her first Premier level title in Charleston two weeks back beating Venus Williams in the process, and Wozniacki in the final. She's been likened to Jenifer Capriati in her ball striking ability. He tennis ethos reminds me a little of Davydenko in that she's (at the moment) very much about all out attack and going for the lines. I can't see a problem with that approach provided she continues to hit at this very high level she's set for herself. I mentioned some time back that the WTA needed something very different to breath some life back into it. Well this girl can serve at 125mph, and outside of the Williamses, that really does put a rather different slant on womens tennis. Looks like she's about to take out Patty Schnyder at the event in Stuttgart (in straight sets) as I type.

-- Caroline Wozniacki continues to play well but seems to be carving out a Kuznetsova like year for herself by making finals she doesn't win.

-- Jelena Jankovic picked up a title in Marbella (taking out Navarro in the process) and seems to be getting some of her form back. She took out a pretty lame (literally) Cibulkova today in a match that at least demonstrated she has cut out a lot of those UFEs. I'm glad she's on the up as I picked her to win at RG this year, mostly because of her stunning performances at Rome these last couple of years. That prediction is looking less certain now, but I'm not about to chicken out.

-- Elena Dementieva has lost some fizz since making a brilliant start to the year, but is still playing convincingly enough to make her my second pick for RG. I always felt she missed out on the all Russian Slam cocktail party in 2004 -- she still managed to make two of those Slam finals. Given the less competitive state of the tour right now - it's almost her right to pick up a Slam, and I'd say RG is the best place to do that.

-- Dinara Safina made a fantabulous return to action at Stuttgart yesterday, by pounding poor old Sara Errani into the dirt 6-0,6-1. It was her first match as world #1, and did of course come amidst the predictable chorus of derision. I'd love her to win at RG too, if only to stick it to the haters.

Go Dinara - You stick it to the man...

-- Less happy news with Maria Sharapova, who's now announced she won't be back until RG. You know, it's almost got to the point now where I wish she'd take the full year off, instead of staggering it out in this will-she-won't-she way. It's got to be heart wrenching to admit to yourself you may be dealing with what's beginning to sound like a chronic injury. But she's still very, very young. Plus RG doesn't strike me as the best place to return from rehab anyway. Ease yourself gently into the grass court season I say.

-- Victoria Azarenka went out early to Gisela Dulko today. I'm not completely convinced by what little I saw from Victoria on clay, but she was returning from injury, so I guess it'd be a little unfair to read too much into that.

-- Anyone know what the hecks going on with Ana Ivanovic? Read More...